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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902159">Silence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortal_meta/pseuds/immortal_meta'>immortal_meta</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bathing/Washing, First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Sad Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:08:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortal_meta/pseuds/immortal_meta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Fall. Will is numb, and Hannibal can't take it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Silence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hannibal gets up with struggle. Every muscle he moves feels as if it's tearing apart, over and over again. His vision darkens and sways, and he can't even determine if his eyes are opened or not.  His sharp mind is swirling in fog.</p><p>Yet that doesn't seem to matter. The only thing that could make him move in this state, is the importance of Will's.<br/>
He'd not seen him in a couple of hours - their sleeping schedules differ, to keep the boat on track. They could, of course, anchor from time to time, but escape and reaching Cuba was their highest priority at this time.</p><p>-<br/>
-</p><p>Will had pulled them out of the water. Like flipping a coin, he'd realized his hope for their survival after he'd decided to let fate decide.</p><p>Swayed into the harsh, yet openly welcoming sea.<br/>
He gripped Hannibal and held onto him tighter and tighter as his wish for them to endure this got louder and louder.<br/>
Hannibal clung to Will with every ounce of power he had.<br/>
His mind was slowly fading away, into the endless waters, into the cosmic serenity of unconsciousness. All he could hear was Will's voice, the most beautiful sound, etched into his skull even in death. </p><p>Separation was not survivable - because it could never exist.</p><p>Engulfed by the waters, Will put a hand over Hannibal's mouth for his lungs to survive.<br/>
His ears were ringing, his head was pounding, and the bitter salt water sharply bit his open wounds. But his determination to keep Hannibal alive dulled all else.<br/>
Sound and sensation disappeared, paling before him, upon placing Hannibal's immobile body on the almost vertical rocks.<br/>
The inevitable yet unforseen loud throb of panic filled him, and he immediately checked his pulse. His heart was still beating. Will felt euphoric.<br/>
He sat himself up next to Hannibal with a pained grunt.</p><p>In the blur of pain, his sight returned to him. </p><p>The calm waters seemed black under the moonlight, the trail of blood and desperation glimmering in a dance. </p><p>Will's mind was nowhere. As if sinking into the tender quiet of death. Meeting Hannibal there.<br/>
His blood rushed to his wounds, pouring out and sliding through the wetness of his clothes, his mouth filling up with blood and leaking out of the gash in his face. 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅. Yet all he heard was the rhythmic hum of waves pushing and pulling the rocks sedately. </p><p>A rush of awareness cut through his haze, and his eyes snapped to Hannibal, whose hand he had reached for subconsciously. He squeezed the cold flesh and got no response.<br/>
With great effort, fueled by his reoccurred panic, he pulled himself up, and hooked his hands under Hannibal's shoulders.</p><p>Will dragged him along the rocks, until all he could see was black and red. </p><p>-<br/>
-</p><p>Hannibal felt his temples throbbing painfully, as he carefully made his way up deck. All in sight was water, painted lightly by the newly risen moon. Hannibal had a vague thought of how being able to tell the time by just the sky would be a useful skill.<br/>
Will had slumped in his chair, asleep, and had anchored the boat for the first time to Hannibal's knowledge. He was visibly trembling, even in his sleep. Concern prodded at Hannibal at this picture.<br/>
He stepped over to Will. </p><p>"You could get ill. You haven't healed yet." he said, uncaring if Will hears him, yet silently hoping he does.</p><p>Will stirs, as if Hannibal's voice had reached him in his slumber. And it did - he starts slowly stretching in his chair, with something dangerously similar to 'Hannibal..' on his lips.<br/>
He blinks his eyes open, and the immediate worry shakes him. Enough to stand up. </p><p>"You shouldn't be up." </p><p>"You shouldn't be out."</p><p>In the darkness, the glint of moonlight in each other's eyes was all they could see. And all they needed.</p><p>"You haven't showered in days. You barely sleep. You won't let me help with your healing. Hannibal-"</p><p>"I cannot function like this, Will. Not with the constant worry. You don't come below deck. I haven't seen you in days I am unable to count."</p><p>Will sighs and turns his eyes to the shimmer of the water, yet all he could see was Hannibal's eyes.</p><p>"I'm just trying to speed up our escape. You know that." He whispers unconvincingly.<br/>
Unconvinced in his own words.</p><p>"We could do it together. I feel as if authorities isn't all you're running from."</p><p>A response doesn't occur to him, and Hannibal isn't wrong.<br/>
The peculiar blur, in which time passed after the fall, had made Will's mind stay fixed in a blur of its own. He felt numb, as if he didn't believe what had happened, as if his mind had stopped trying to digest it. He stayed suspended in this fog, day after day for all he knew, with no sense of anything.<br/>
The rare occasions on which he saw Hannibal, it was like he wasn't even there, like neither of them were there. Whatever 'there' meant.<br/>
Alone, without each other.</p><p>"I need to know, Will." Hannibal's voice was the weakest Will had ever heard it. </p><p>"I can't tell you anything, Hannibal. I can't tell myself anything, I can't think, I can't feel."</p><p>He gulped audibly. His eyes burned from his fixed stare. </p><p>"Tell me anything, Will." Hannibal's voice broke painfully.</p><p>Will felt his throat constrict at the sound. His eyes burned more harshly.</p><p>"I-I.... I feel like a ghost."</p><p>A silence overtook. For a while, the light waves around them, and their breathing filled their ears. Every silent noise was sharp, in search of something else.<br/>
<br/>
"I feel like a ghost as well." The quiet words echoed like a prayer in Will's whole being.</p><p>He turns back to Hannibal, and the sight sends a cold shiver through his skin. The glimmer isn't only in his eyes - it's all around them, all over his cheeks. The faint light painted tears silver. A pleading expression.<br/>
"Will..." His lip trembled.</p><p>Then it clicked.<br/>
Will's eyes widened, his heart clenched. The fog of numbness immediately cleared, condensing.<br/>
Pouring down on him, every drop returning a color, a shiver, a locked gaze, a sensitivity.<br/>
He felt high, the sudden regain felt like an awakening. A ghost come back to life, realizing it never was a ghost. </p><p>With no further thought, Will closed the space between them, locking his arms around Hannibal's back and shoulder, burying his face into his neck. Hannibal responded in sync, not faltering for a moment. He envelops Will with all his power, his pain. Starvation. </p><p>"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Was all Hannibal could hear. All he wanted to hear. All he needed to hear.</p><p>"I..." He couldn't say anything. All he could do was feel. 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍. Will in his arms, Will trembling. Or was it himself - neither could tell. It didn't matter.</p><p>They parted after both an eternity and a second.<br/>
Will took Hannibal's hand in his own. They slowly made their way inside, the darkness fully engulfing their vision. Yet all they saw was each other.</p>
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